Love Happens
by darkprincesspoet
Summary: This story is for the ShunsuixNanao Challenge. It seemed like just a normal day at the office, but fate seemed to have other plans. R
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys Darkpoet here!!! Welcome to yet another story for me!! YAY!! This story is for BlackVelvetBand's Challenge and it does not follow one of the offered prompts. Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or anything in the following story.

_I am still._

_I am calm._

_I will not scream,_

_I will not ask him to stay._

_I will keep composure._

And still after forcing these thoughts to run through her head over and over, like a mantra, Ise Nanao still allowed a disappointed sigh to escape her lips. The Vice-Captain of the Eight Squad mentally scolded herself at this break in self-control, but then gave in again to let her eyes float up to were they landed on her confused looking Captain. He had just bid her farewell as he left early to go drinking, but her sigh had stopped him.

He studied at her with his soft, brown eyes trying to find an explanation for her distress. He studied her just as he normally did, and didn't find much out of the ordinary. She was pale, skinny, her dark hair was in a knot, and her eyes gave away no emotion except for fatigue. All normal attributes of his Nanao-chan.

_Wait, no, there is something different._

There was something in her eye, a certain sadness that he couldn't put his finger on. _And maybe even..._ He didn't think it was possible, but a look of longing. It wasn't like his Nanao to give away emotions that easily, but if you looked hard enough you could tell, sometimes, just what she was feeling. This happened to be one of those times.

"Yare Nanao-chan. You do not wish for your Shunsui to go?" He pondered his guess of what she meant in that sigh. He silently prayed he was right, but then again he knew that if he was it probably wouldn't be for his desired reasons. If she didn't want him to go it wouldn't be because she wanted him to scoop her up and take her to bed, but to do work.

However, in all truth he had been correct, but Nanao's pride would never allow her to admit to it. "No Captain." She lied, trying to make eye contact as to not give herself away.

His heart sank, he believed her. "Are you sure nothing's wrong? You look a bit troubled." He hoped she might, for once, open up to him, but that was a hope against reason.

"Well..." Nanao searched for something to say to him. "I suppose well... Sir I would like it if you could help me with the Squads paperwork sometimes." This in itself was easy enough to believe, and her Captain did believe it.

"Oh my poor Nanao-chan. How could I have been so blind? Of course you reject my love for you when I hardly treat you right at all. Oh I knew I have been working you too hard!" Nanao sighed once again as her Captain paced frantically around the office letting his pink haori soar behind him, dramatically rambling of how much he loved her and how badly he was treating 'His poor Nanao-chan.'

Suddenly he stopped and took her face in his hands looking straight into her eyes. "Can you ever forgive me?" Nanao was very tempted to melt right there under his gaze, but once again pride would never allow it. Instead she drew out her fan and gave him a wack. At this he released her and smirked, at his ever so predictable Nanao. "Do you try to break my heart on purpose Nanao-chan? How can you be so cruel?"

"Captain what I had meant about the paperwork," she said ignoring his question completely "was that I would like your help when there is a lot of it to do." She hoped her explanation would ease his ramblings.

Nanao, in reality, did not want her Captain to leave and go drinking because she knew what could happen if he became exceedingly drunk. The countless stories she had heard from those who would drink at the same bars only added to her worries, and had caused her to blush furiously. It was true she felt something special for Kyouraku Shunsui, but he was her Captain. To have a relationship would be against the rules, and Ise Nanao did not break the rules. So she kept her feelings a well guarded secret, and barley even let herself think about them.

"Well if that's what you acquire of me, then for you I will do it." With these words her Captain had not only broken her thoughts but had headed towards the door leaving her at a loss.

"Why for me?" Nanao whispered before she could even stop herself. She panicked and wondered if he had heard her. Indeed he had. He slowly turned to her and studied her for a moment, letting his eyes roam her both startled and worried look. She cursed her bad luck.

"Why not for you?" He asked.

She glared at him and began to straighten up her desk simply because she did not want to answer. She didn't know what to say that would save her.

"Nanao..."

"No. Captain. This conversation is heading in a highly inappropriate direction and I refuse to contribute to it."

"Nanao. I love you."

Suddenly she stopped and looked up at him as if she hadn't heard him correctly. But she had, and the way he had told her he loved her was almost scary. It was if he was serious. _But that's silly. He couldn't be serious._ But, unlike the other times in which he had either been inebriated or had been trying to get out of something, this time he had been completely serious.

"No you don't."

"Yes I do Nanao."

"Captain even if you did I don't feel the same way." _Lie._ "I think of you in only a professional way." _LIE. _"And even if I was I wouldn't be willing to break the rules to be with you." _LIE LIE LIE!!! _"Captain, you're a good person, but you can be a bit annoying at times." _OK truth._ She didn't know why she said what she did. She was never one to intentionally hurt herself, letting her heartbreak was included. Yet the things she said to him had cleaved her heart in two, and, if he really loved her, it probably did the same to him.

And unbeknownst to her it did. Shunsui would have rather faced hundreds of Hallows all at once then to hear those painful and heart-shattering words. But she had said them and he was just as confused as he was sad. He was almost certain that she felt something for him, he saw longing, and sadness in her eyes. _How could I have been so stupid? She loves someone else._

"I'll be leaving now Captain. Goodnight." Shunsui didn't even realize she was leaving until her heard the door softly close and he felt her Reitsu slowly drift away until it stopped at the Vice-Captains quarters.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Hello everyone! I hope you are enjoying this fic as much as I am having fun writing it!!! Thank you everyone for all the wonderful reviews they really made my morning. So to thank you all here's the next chapter!!! Please keep review and tell me what you think!!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

Nanao paced around her room trying to clear her mind. _What his he doing, telling me that he loves me. It's not true it just can't be true!_ But she knew in her heart that it was. The man she loved was in love with her. She should be happy, jumping for joy, and on her way to his arms right now, but this was Nanao so it couldn't be that way.

She sadly looked around her baron room. For all the years she had lived in these quarters she never decorated it. She had a few candles, and a stack of books on a desk that housed writing tools and paper. Her closet held a few items she hardly ever wore, and her uniforms. Nanao had never realized how drab her life had been.

_Well no... there's him._

Her captain was always a little crazy. Always wearing his pink Haori and that straw hat. He had nerve, you had to give him that. Not many others could pull off something so girly and still retain their masculinity. She laughed at the thought of Shunsui being any less manly than he already was. He was also kind. She remembered the first day of her job as Vice-Captain.

Many Years Ago, Tuesday

Nanao nervously walked through the halls of the Eighth Squad and approached the door to her new office as slowly as she could. Once she reached the door she sighed, gathered her courage and entered. She looked around and saw that the office was much the same as it had been when she was interviewed.

Wanting to prove herself she got straight to work. She cleaned her desk and set up her writing supplies. She began working on the rather large stack of paperwork that was on her desk and continued to work on if for the better part of two hours.

At this point her Captain walked in and saw her working. "Yare, Nanao-chan. It's your first day on the job you can take it easy." He smiled at her and opened the shoji door that lead to the garden outside. He plopped down on the mat floor and began drinking sake while watching the cherry blossoms float down from the trees.

Nanao watched him do this and then began working again. After another hour had passed she noticed the wind had blown in quite a few cherry blossoms but her Captain did not seem to mind them. But after a while they had made their way onto her desk and SHE began to mind them.

"Captain?"

"Yes Nanao?"

"Sir, these flowers are interfering with my work."

"Why don't you take a break then that paperwork will be there tomorrow as well."

Nanao sighed. She knew he expected her to sit next to him and enjoy the view, but this did not seem an appropriate action to take on her first day. So instead she grabbed a broom that had been left by the cleaning crew and began sweeping out the troublesome petals.

"Nanao what are you doing?" He asked.

"Cleaning." She answered simply.

"Nanao, first you choose to refuse to stop working, and then you try to ruin the beauty of Spring." He turned to look at her. "But then again you are a far more lovely view then the blossoms."

At this she stopped sweeping and gave her captain a very sharp glare from behind her glasses. He gave a small laugh. He continued watching her clean the room with a light amusement dancing in his eyes. Nanao knew she didn't have to do the sweeping, but she didn't like being idle, and her Captain had asked her to stop doing paperwork. So she continued sweeping out the petals that kept blowing in.

After a while the wind stopped blowing and Nanao finished the job she had started. She noticed that it was getting late in the afternoon, and even more so her Captain was asleep. She looked over at the large pile of paperwork still to be done and decided to work on it so she could have less to do tomorrow. She sat down and a few minutes later felt the brush she was writing with pulled from her hand. She turned.

"Captain. What are you doing?"

"What are you doing, Nanao-chan? I thought I told you to not do anymore work." She could tell he was drunk, but that did not stop her from pursing her lips at the nickname he had bestowed upon her. "Now go ahead and go home Nanao-chan. I don't want my new Vice-Captain working herself into sickness." At this he left.

Present day

Nanao smiled at this memory. Her Captain was true to his word and never let her overwork herself. No matter how annoying and unmanageable her Captain was he still managed to smile to her every morning, wish her a goodnight, and always told her how much he appreciated her. And she was generally thankful that she had just a great captain, who could make her feel like the most important person in the world.

Suddenly Nanao's heart sank and she recalled the look in her Captain's eyes as she had lied to him about her feelings. She could tell that he loved her, and was honest and genuine about it. _What have I done?_ She felt her heart break for a second time that day. Nanao knew that she had to fix what she had done. She didn't want to loose him.

"Tomorrow." She whispered looking out her window. _Tomorrow I will tell him the truth._

Meanwhile

"She hates me." Shunsui said taking a large bottle of Sake and attempting to drink it all in one go.

"No she doesn't. You just have a way of irritating her to no end." Jyuushiro, the white haired Captain of the Thirteenth Squad, said trying to comfort his longtime friend.

"That maybe true, but she's never done anything like that before. Maybe I should have her transferred to a different Squad. Would you take her?"

"Yes I would if I knew you actually were serious about giving her up." He took this opportunity to take the Sake bottle away from his friend.

"Well maybe I am. I've ruined everything."

"Talk to her about it. You can't avoid her forever."

Shunsui knew his friend was right and nodded. "But tomorrow I'll stay away to let her cool off a bit."

The two friends spent the rest of the night talking of lighter subject matters, and laughing about their days at the Shinigami Academy. As dawn came Shunsui left and went in search of a quiet place to spend the day.

AN: Hope you like this chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey guys here is the final chapter of Love Happens. Thank you so much for reading this and I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

Disclaimer: I own Bleach like fat kids don't love cake! D

The next morning Nanao awoke from her slumber and dressed in her standard uniform and headed towards the office she shared with her captain. She opened the door and entered looking around and finding, to no surprise, that her Captain was not there. After making a cup of tea she sat down and began to finish off the few remaining documents she had left from the night before. After a few hours and many cups of strong tea the paperwork was done and carried off, and she was waiting for the arrival of her Captain.

But as noon came and went she began to wonder if he was in-fact avoiding her. Usually he was in around noon, and if not noon then defiantly by one o'clock. She peered at the clock kept at on the wall. It read 1:07 and ticked away at her with no care that Nanao was feeling apprehensive. She huffed at the time and started mulling over if she should still wait or go and find him. But after another half an hour passed she made her choice.

"I must find him." She muttered under her breath as she rose quickly from the desk and left to go in search of him. First she checked all the gardens around her squad, seeing as he was usually found sitting under a tree or, at times, in one. But when her search came up empty she tried the gardens around the surrounding squads much to their annoyance, and then did a thorough search of the Thirteenth Squad even though they told her that he had left hours before.

Feeling almost defeated she started heading back to the eighth squad when she remembered something from years before.

Years Ago, Friday

Nanao followed the trail of sake bottles and small traces of Sakura Blossoms along a small stream that lead to a huge Sakura Tree. At the base to said tree she found her captain passed out from too much Sake and from the battle he had fought earlier against massive swarms of Hallows. The report had read that at least half of the squad members there had died or was in critical condition. Nanao knew that her Captain was very fond of all their squad members and she would bet her position as Vice-Captain that the reason for his currant state was from guilt.

Nanao studied his appearance and saw that he was still alive. She however dared not to get to close for fear of being overcome with the fumes of the liquor. Her Captain then opened his eyes and smiled at her. "Yare Nanao-chan," She dared not correct him, "you found my secret hiding place." He closed his eyes and fell back to sleep.

At this Nanao stood, and turned to leave knowing that her Captain would be fine and would probably never remember her being there when he awoke. She looked back only for a moment feeling both sad for him and glad that she had such a caring Captain.

Present Day

_He must be there._ Nanao sped off using her flash step to get to the area as quickly as she could seeing that the sun would be setting soon. As she jumped over rooftops and over walkways she silently prayed that he would be there, and not have a broken heart that could not be mended. She stopped a small ways away from the tree, and could tell he was there.

Nanao took a deep breath in and walked slowly over to him. He didn't look at her. She smirked. "Yare Captain, hiding from your Nanao-chan?" he looked up at her suddenly.

He studied her for a minute not knowing exactly what to say. "Come sit with me Nanao." She sat down next to him and looked out at the slowly setting sun. The pinks and oranges swirled with each other creating a beautiful sight. "Why did you come out here Nanao?" Her captain asked.

"Because Captain I am afraid I have been rather untruthful to you."

"I see. So you have come to clear your conscious?"

"Yes. You see captain last night I told you some rather colorful lies."

"Did you now?" Her Captain turned towards her and grabbed her hand.

"Shunsui." Nanao began. "I must confess that I love you too. And I don't just think of you in a professional way. In-fact I think most of my feelings for you are rather unprofessional." She smiled, and looked at him.

"Nanao... I." He stopped. "Nanao where did all these feelings come from?"

"I guess I've just always had them." She peered deep into his eyes and whispered "Kiss me."

He leaned down about to capture her lips when...

Nanao suddenly woke up from her dream and sat up in bed and smiled over at her lover, Shunsui. She looked out the window of their room and noticed that the sun was up, which meant she should be heading to the office. She looked over to her Captain again and noticed that he was looking at her.

"What woke you up?" he asked.

"Oh I was just dreaming about you and me and how we got together." She answered, getting up and beginning to get ready.

"And that woke you up?" he mused.

"Well why stay asleep when you can wake up and have the real thing." She teased back.

Nanao soon left and Shunsui continued to lay in bed. _She really is amazing._ He mused over all the changes in his Nanao-chan. It turned out that she was really a charming and playful woman once you got under her business like façade. He chuckled to himself and grinned. He really was the luckiest man in all of Soul Society.

I hope you enjoyed this. Yes I know it's a bit of a twist, but I hope you enjoyed it!!! YAY!


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